New York Giants step into London

Big ask: the NFL is counting on Eli Manning to spread the gospel

By Oliver Brown

12:01AM BST 24 Oct 2007

In his rich Louisiana drawl, Eli Manning affects a certain wide-eyed innocence as he contemplates a visit to London this weekend forgetting, momentarily, that he is coming not as a tourist but with a reputation to protect as the New York Giants' star quarterback. The 26-year-old spent a summer in the capital before his junior year at the University of Mississippi, including the obligatory foray to "Oxford, England", but breaks the nostalgia to claim that Sunday's engagement against the Miami Dolphins at Wembley is "strictly business".

On a first meeting, you would not imagine Manning as an icon of the National Football League, or as the strong-armed aggressor for whose services the Giants have paid £22 million. Dressed down after training, he can be by turns languid, withdrawn, defensive. Perhaps it is a wariness instilled by the New York press corps, notorious for magnifying Manning's every mistake, or perhaps it is just 'younger brother syndrome' — Eli is, let us not forget, the shy sibling of Peyton, winning quarterback at last season's Super Bowl for the Indianapolis Colts and one of American sport's most marketable faces.

When the brothers faced each other for the first time at Giants Stadium last September, it was known as the 'Manning Bowl'; the most vivid expression of a dynasty forged by father Archie, a celebrated talent for New Orleans in the Seventies and also a quarterback, proving that the skill of shredding a defence with a single pass really is written in the genes. Eli, however, has resolved not to repeat his father's mistake of becoming the glamour figure in an ordinary team. He had the audacity to reject an attempted first-round draft by San Diego three years ago in favour of realising the vast untapped potential of the Giants, and now shoulders the burden of taking his sport global.

Ostensibly, this transatlantic transplanting of two major NFL franchises for a weekend of shuttle diplomacy is not quite the logistical headache many imagine — both teams face similar problems just travelling to Seattle. But as Manning recognises, it is the symbolism of the occasion that resonates. Wembley could have been sold out six times over for the first regular-season game to be staged outside North America. The quarterback recalls his brother's reaction to this London mission. "Peyton said, 'That will be pretty neat'. Expanding to the international level is exciting, but it's not enough to treat this as an exhibition. There are more people attracted by this event than I thought there would be, and we have to retain their interest."

Related Articles

The cultural shift promises to be stark. From the blasted industrial landscape of East Rutherford, New Jersey, the Giants are relocating to the green fields of Chelsea's Cobham training complex. It is, apparently, more than a token connection: both John Terry and Didier Drogba are serving as New York's honorary captains. Manning professes to be oblivious to Premier League politics but he is aware of the extravagance that awaits at chez Chelsea. "I hear about some of the financial figures," he says. "I hear their owner is trying to buy every popular player there is."

For Manning, this is a rare departure from his normal studied tact. Otherwise he carries the NFL's aim to take root in Britain, the world's second most receptive market for American football, with conviction, even advocating a plan for teams to establish 'satellite cities' beyond their own shores. But if you want a more off-message analysis of the 'Wembley Bowl' and its likely impact, you could do worse than speak to Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes — a native of Greenock, Scotland, after his father served there in the US Navy.

The Scottish burr has long since given way to an East Coast twang, but Tynes has been steeped in enough of Glasgow's Old Firm fervour to know how ambitious a task the NFL face in appealing to the affections of British sports fans. "I expect perhaps one in 10 spectators at Wembley to know what the game is about," he says. "People will go out of curiosity. I know how intense soccer loyalties are in Britain, and we can't expect to come and convert."

Tynes' outlook is perhaps unduly pessimistic. Sunday's showpiece draws heavily upon the NFL's residual appeal in Britain after its Eighties heyday, when the sport cut a swathe through late-night schedules on terrestrial television and when Super Bowl parties were the places to be seen. So, the priorities for this experiment do not have to be complicated: Manning and Co are here, primarily, to revive an age of lost glamour.

Sky Sports shows over 125 live NFL games a season including HD coverage of NY Giants against Miami Dolphins against Wembley on Sunday.